Roland TB-303 Bassline

The TB-303 is THE sound of acid and techno house music! It's a
monophonic analog bass synthesizer married to a pattern-based step
sequencer released in 1982. It features a single analog oscillator with
two waveforms (ramp or square) and has a simple but excellent VCF (filter)
with resonance, cut-off, and envelope controls. There are also knobs to
adjust tuning, envelope decay, tempo and accent amount.

How does it work? Well, it's not a performance synthesizer because you
have to program a pattern of notes and timing info into it (sort of
like a drum machine). Patterns can then be linked into songs. It was
originally made to accompany a drum machine, the TR-606
specifically, and provide bass-line accompaniment to guitarists,
keyboard players, etc. It was not a successful product in its time. As
a result, creative DJs and aspiring electronic musicians found them for
next to no money and began using them for techno and acid music.
Usually a single pattern is continuously played while the performer
tweaks the knobs creating an exciting and expressive musical event.

The TB-303 has become one of the most sought after vintage
synths ever! It has helped develop and stylize many forms of electronic
music including House, Acid, Trance and Ambient. If ever there was a
need for a repetitive bassline/groove or an extremely resonant and
bubbly sound, the 303 is KING. Truly a unique machine with a very
identifiable sound! It has spun off several imitators as well: Novation
Bass Station, ReBirth, Doepfer MS-404, MAM MB-33, Syntecno TeeBee, and
more (see Related & Alternative Gear sidebar).

Ironically, these days it's become trendy to dislike the 303 again, now
because of over-use. But I don't and you shouldn't either because it is
one-of-a-kind and it's just got that sound that everyone loves! Fatboy
Slim says it best in his song "Everybody Needs A 303!"

There are some custom modifications for the TB-303 which are definitely
worth mentioning here:

TB-303 Devil Fish Mod

Get all the acid you can squeeze out of your TB-303 with the Devil Fish
modification, designed to enhance and extend the range of the 303's
filters and sound. Drastic, subtle and flexible modifications retain the
mild-mannered TB-303 sound capabilities, and create a completely new
instrument. The Devil Fish modification was created and is available from
Robin Whittle in Australia. More information is available at the TB-303
Devil Fish web site. See the YouTube links for a video demonstration.

TB-303 Borg Mod

The Borg TB-303 upgrade / modification - similar in many ways to the
Devil Fish but with advantages. This is a major upgrade available for the
TB-303 from Analogue Solutions. This upgrade adds features that allow
greater creativity and flexibility in creating new sounds and live
performance. See the YouTube links for a video demonstration.

The link above will take you to an eBay search for this synth to see active listings with more images, specs and information. If you don't find it there, try looking in our forum marketplace. Our marketplace gets thousands of visits every week so make sure to check back often if you want to buy or sell a synth.

Audio Clip 2 - This is a short basic 303 groove that shows some of the range of sounds possible. One third of the way through a RAT distortion pedal beefs up the 303 pattern for some even squelchier, harder acid!